Francesca di Rimini, in legend and in history

LIBRARY

l>«»V£RSITY OF

CALIFORNIA

SAN OIEGO

FRANCESCA DI RIMINI

ifUi

'^/Uh the Author's md
' ^..kU^her's Compliw^nis.

FRANCESCA DI RIMINI

IN LEGEND & IN HISTORY

ADAPTED FROM THE FRENCH OF

CHARLES YRIARTE

BY

ARNOLD HARRIS MATHEW

{de jure Earl of Landaff)

AUTHOR OF "woman SUFFRAGE," " THE LIFE OF

SIR TOBIK MATTHEW," " AN INTRODUCTION

TO ENGLISH LITERATURE," ETC. ETC.

LONDON

DAVID NUTT, 57-59 LONG ACRE

1908

Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson &^ Co.
At the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh.

PREFACE

It is perhaps worthy of note that in spite of
Dante's great fame early in the fourteenth
century, his Divma Commedia did not supply
subjects to contemporary artists. Even the
great painters of the Renaissance ignored
it, and at the present time the tragedy of
Francesca di Rimini is not found among
the works exhibited in the National Gallery.
Dante's treatment of the story has usually
been regarded as entirely fanciful, and the
narrative itself as mere legend and romance.
It is, however, in its main features, historical,
though the historian may find difficulty in
determining with precision where it becomes
necessary to disentangle fiction from fact.
This I have endeavoured to do in the follow-

vi Preface

ing brief account of that pathetic tragedy
which Dante has immortaUsed in the Inferno^
and which was destined to be re-enacted upon
the dramatic and the lyric stage for all time.

Of the contemporary representatives of the
Polenta and Malatesta families, all that is
known concerning them will be found in
these pages.

Whilst I have generally followed in the
footsteps of Francesca's talented biographer,
Monsieur C. Yriarte, I have also, to some
extent, supplemented his account of her.

Arnold Harris Mathew.
Chelsfield, Kent.

CONTENTS

PAGB

Preface v

CHAPTER I

Origin of the Polenta and Malatesta
Families i

Political conditions — Establishment of the re-
publics — The Condottieri — T heir foundation
of dynasties.

CHAPTER n
The Divine Comedy i6

Francesca — The Hunchback — Paolo il Bello —
The historical descriptiofis of the murderer
and of the tragedy.

CHAPTER III
Dante and Francesca . . . .35

Contemporary witnesses — Boccaccio-and the legend
— The relations between Paolo ajid Fran-

viii Contents

CHAPTER IV

PAGE

The Site of the Tragedy . . .71

Was it at Rimini, Pesaro, or Sant' Arcangelo f
— Exaffiination of the evidence as to each —
The opinions of Tonini and Monsignor
Marino Marini — Coftclusion.

CHAPTER V

R]^SUME OF THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE . 87

Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta — Datite is the
reputed historiaji of the tragedy — His legend
compared with authentic history.

FRANCESCA DI RIMINI

CHAPTER I

ORIGIN OF THE POLENTA AND
MALATESTA FAMILIES

Political conditions — Establishfuent of the repttblics — The
Condottieri — Their fou7idatio7i of dynasties.

It would be interesting to attempt to throw
some light upon the historic event which has
aroused so much discussion, and upon which
the famous episode of the fifth canto of the
Inferno of Dante's " Divine Comedy " is based,
viz. the murder of Francesca di Rimini and
Paolo Malatesta by Giovanni, the husband of
Francesca and brother of Paolo. All that has
been done, hitherto, is, that a great many
documents have been published by Italian
scholars, the text of the old chronicles has
been criticised, and statements which appeared

A

2 Francesca di Rimini

to be of much too well-established a kind to
be subjected to the affront of analysis have
been called in question. Now, what we want
is to systematise all this material, to realise the
actors, and to place them against their proper
historical background, and — this is the most
essential point — to trust only the most trust-
worthy sources of information, so that we may
be able to disentangle the thread of historical
fact, and the individuaUty of each actor, from
the legend that has crystallised round them ;
for Dante's legend has, by virtue of his genius,
become a more living thing than the historical
fact.

The day of large historical compositions is
over, and gone too is the old broad treatment
of epochs, where the " philosophy of history "
is emphasised by focussing the light on the
highways and chief events, while the byways
and individual actions are lost in obscurity.
The modern method is, in the phrase of the
day, to reconstruct a figure ; that is to say, by
accumulating detail round a single point, a

Polenta and Malatesta Families 3

figure that had hitherto been but a " walking
personage " in the crowded stage of history is
brought into prominence.

The proportion of the legendary to the
historical element in Dante's episode is the
problem we have to consider. At Sienna the
Maremma is associated with Pia di Tolommei ;
at Pisa J. J. Ampere wished actually to touch
with his hand the ruined stonework of
Ugolino's monument, in which Rossini saw
the remains of the Hunger Tower; and how
many have followed in the footsteps of
Francesca and Paolo, and Giovanni Malatesta
at Rimini, Pesaro, and San Arcangelo, to see
if there are any records or monuments to
their existence ! The history of these periods
is extremely obscure, but there are a certain
number of historical circumstances which are
capable of documentary proof, and which make
us realise the true nature of the event, and
enable us to form some idea of what seems,
at first sight, a legend, floating upon the
stream of history, as those two "sad spirits,"

4 France sea di Rimini

who will never be separated, float upon the
'^ air malign " of the second circle of the
Inferno.

If we consider the story in its relation to
history, we find that both victims and their
murderer belonged to those powerful and
dominant families which, later, founded ruling
dynasties in some of the cities of Northern
Italy on the shores of the Adriatic. The
Polentas and the Malatestas are already called
"lords" of Rimini and Ravenna, and they
become, later, lords in the full sense of the
term. Our period is the second half of the
thirteenth century, and the epoch of the dawn
of the Italian republics ; but later an important
change takes place, which, in course of time,
tends to the formation of local dynasties.
These dynasties hand down their power regu-
larly for many centuries, and some of them,
like the family of Montefeltro, Dukes of Urbino,
the Polentas, and the Malatestas, will become
famous in history. It is also the period of the
dawn of municipal liberty, and we shall not

Polenta and Malatesta Families 5

fully understand the progress of events unless
we realise how, upon the ruins of the Western
Empire, new powers were set up, which were
virtually independent, although they never
denied the nominal temporal supremacy or
suzerainty of the Pope, nor that of the
Emperor who succeeded to Charlemagne's
Empire of the West.

The Political State of the Country at the
time of the Assassination

At the close of the ninth century, the
breaking up of the Carolingian monarchy had
brought in its train the division of Italy into
an infinite number of petty powers, none of
which were theoretically, but the majority of
which were virtually, independent. This con-
dition of anarchy was a step towards the
setting up of the feudal system. Everywhere
there were centres of power, which were, in
themselves, the germs of authority; and, by a
sort of political atavism, the new feudal divi-

6 Frances ca di Rimini

sions that arose — such as Duchies, Marquisates,
and Counties — corresponded almost exactly to
the territorial divisions of the old Roman
provinces. At the head of these divisions
were Dukes, Marquises, and Counts, while
the secondary cities were governed by their
deputies. The clergy were by no means ex-
cluded from temporal power in cities, and,
indeed, they often assumed both the civil
and religious government of them ; — they were
counts in their palaces, bishops or archbishops
at the cathedral, and generals in the field,
and were all-powerful in every sphere; while
obedience was more readily tendered to a
spiritual authority with an army at its back.
The majority of these dukes^ marqujses, a^d
coujits jvere oL Go-nian extraction, though
jtalian in language, interests, and politics ;
the bishops, on the other hand, were almost
all of them Italians, but clerical or lay, each of
the chiefs, in their several duchies, marquisates,
and counties, had full governing powers, and
formed the upper class of feudal society. Be-

Polenta and Malatesta Families j

neath them came their deputies in town and
country, vassals more or less submissive, ac-
cording to their power and importance, and
holding the fortified castles within the cities,
or the castelli in villages on the country side.
Beneath them again stood an urban and a rural
feudal nobility, the former with their palaces in
the towns, the latter with their castles, which
were often fortified, if they stood in a dan-
gerous position, or were liable to attacks. The
labouring class were serfs, but in the towns
there was growing up a class, remarkable for
its industry, moraUty, and feeling for personal
dignity, which became known, later, as the
Burgess, or middle class. From the time of
the Romans this class had always had its own
special governing body, called, by a very natural
association of ideas, the consulate^ and from the
eleventh century the Burgess class had its own
municipal magistrates, the consuls.

This immense feudal fabric, in Italy, owed
allegiance — at any rate in theory — to a
supreme head, the Emperor of the West, the

8 Francesca di Rimini

successor to Charlemagnej^ and the Emperor
considered himself its suzerain. But there was
a germ of weakness in this relation from the
very beginning, owing to the fact that this
authority was not always well defined, and that
the EinpamiLwas a long way off, and theXope
sometimes held him in check; and between
the rival powers there had arisen various new
centres of power. While the feudal hierarchy
of dukes, marquises, and counts were each
struggling to augment their powers at the ex-
pense of the others, feudalism became dis-
organised, armies wasted away in their disputes,
and dukes, marquises, and counts disappeared,
while the urban and provincial governors were
only tolerated if their government had been
clement to the lower classes. This was the
cause of a very great change, by which the
municipal authority, from its humble beginning
of Consuls and Rectors, gradually grew to be a
governing power able to keep that of the nobles
in check. The overlordship of the King of the
Romans, the Emperor of the West, still existed,

Polenta and Malatesta Families 9

but its strength had to be actually felt before
this suzerainty was admitted.

In their internal feuds, the nobles forgot the
existence of the Emperor, until the day came
when, being worsted by some neighbour on
whose power they had had designs, they were
reduced to appeal to their suzerain. As, after
all, it was his concern, the Emperor either came
in person or sent help. Again, if a duke or a
count levied exactions from his vassals, they in
their turn remembered the suzerainty they had
thought so little of shortly before, complained
to the Emperor, who again intervened, and sent
sometimes a bishop, but more often specially
deputed persons {missi)^ to act in the interests
of the oppressed parties. In 1037 Conrad
the Salic had given the feudal nobility of
the principal duchies and counties protection
against their immediate suzerain, whether duke
or count, and armed with this, the nobihty now
began to raise their heads, and set up castle
against castle within the walls of the towns.
Opposition was an easy matter, for the feudal

lo France sea di Rimini

nobility were united by a common bond, as were
the intermediary and the lowest classes. Only
the people who lived in the country, isolated in
the valleys or on the mountain slopes, and
scattered here and there on the plains, were
bound to suffer in the struggle. The massing
of troops in the towns soon became a source
of danger to the feudal nobility and their
suzerains, and as each party wanted a supporter
in the bitter struggle which was to ensue, the
feudal party leaned to the side of the Emperor,
while the civic party inclined to that of the
Pope. Such was the origin of that immense
conflict which spread over Italy, and which
brought in its train the deposition of popes
and the excommunication of emperors — a
struggle known to history as the war of the
Guelfs and the Ghibellines.

The two heads of western Christendom,
Henry IV. and Pope Gregory VII., who took
opposite sides in a single-handed duel, gave
an added intensity to the struggle by their
action in the war of Investitures. The Em-

Polenta and Malatesta Families 1 1

peror had the support of the majority of the
feudal chiefs, while the Pope had on his side
the dukes and counts who had long since
shaken off the imperial yoke. His principal
support, however, lay in the higher class of
the towns, and the wealthy ow^ners of palaces
within the town walls, who were neither counts
nor dukes. The quarrel between the Pope and
the Emperor ended in a compromise, but the
principal towns of Northern and Central Italy
shook off the yoke of feudalism, and formed
themselves into independent republics. In
each of these republics the government was
at first carried on by officers called consuls,
who were always chosen from noble and
influential families, or from those who had
become enriched by commerce or industry.
To control the power of the consuls, a council,
and often a senate, was appointed, which was
also a reminiscence of the ancient Roman
forms of government. This state of things
lasted for fifty years, and during this period
the theoretical rights of the Emperor were not

12 Francesca di Rimini

disputed, though they were consistently ignored.
Later, Frederick Barbarossa struggled for thirty
years to bring the towns back to their feudal
allegiance under the government of the feuda-
tories he had appointed. Thus the Pope, the
rival power, and the supporter of the autonomy
of the towns under his authority, represented
the cause of Italian liberty, while the Emperor
stood for subjection to a foreign yoke. In
1 1 83 the treaty which led to the Peace of
Constance defined the rights of the Emperor
and the Italian communes. The influence of
Roman tradition, the needs and requirements
of the day, had changed the condition of
Northern Italy, and this was legally recognised,
while, in return, the republics ratified certain
conditions — homages, tributes, and obligations
which they considered of little practical import,
and which they would repudiate, if need be,
at the earliest opportunity. Such was the
origin of the Italian republics ; and we shall
also indicate here the rise of the Imperial
vicars, for while the Polentas are styled in

Polenta and Mai ate st a Families i 3

their genealogies consuls and rectors, the early
Malatestas are given the title of Imperial
vicars.

Towards the close of the twelfth century the
now enfranchised communes were constantly
torn by party strife within their walls, and
very frequently engaged in struggles with the
neighbouring republics, which happened to
be swayed by the opposing faction, whether
Ghibelline or Guelf. About this time, on
the death of the last king of Naples of the
Norman race, the popes somewhat incon-
sistently called the son of their old enemy
Barbarossa, Henry VI., to the throne. The
latter, who was at war with three successive
popes, made a determined stand against the
communes, and supported the feudal lords
against their oppressed and revolting subjects,
thus putting all his strength into the side of
the scale of petty local tyrannies. The de-
scendants of the early dukes and counts of
German descent were exhausted, but during
the gradual and painful birth of local liberties,

14 Francesca di Rimini

and in the slow transformation of the power
of feudaUsm into the power of the communes,
there had arisen certain active and powerful
personalities, whose political talents were further
enhanced by unquestioned military skill; the
class, the Condottieri, to which both the Mala-
testa and Polenta families belonged, began to
take the place of the old feudal suzerains,
and founded local dynasties, some of which
were still in existence towards the sixteenth
century.

The palace of the Polentas at Ravenna is
severe and prison-like. A tablet on its fagade
tells us, "Questa casa fu un tempo dei Polentani
che ebbero la gloria di accogliere ospitalmente
Dante Alighieri."

It is interesting to find that Dante's daugh-
ter, Beatrice, lived for many years at Ravenna.
An inscription on the convent of Santo Stefano
states that she devoted herself to God, being
" wroth with the world's wickedness, having
seen her father through the evil dissension
of citizens condemned to a perpetual exile,

Polenta and Malatesta Families 1 5

and to become a beggar for the bread of
strangers."

They will show you in the Pineta " Dante's
walk " beside the canal under the stone-pines,
" the gentle and windless shade " of which he
writes. He doubtless knew the church of
Santa Maria in Porto Fuori, and possibly
watched the painting of the frescoes executed
there about this time, but now faded to the
colour of ashes and roses. The fresco re-
presents an old woman, and one young and
beautiful, looking out of a window, which, in
spite of its archaic characteristics, aroused the
enthusiasm of Arthur Symons : it is "Jthe^calm
and eager face of Francesca da Rimini; the
bright gold hair wreathed with green leaves, the
long neck, the lon^ sensitive^ hands, the long
straight line ^f nose and ioiekead^^and the
-Y'ide eyes looking down frorn an open window
as if for the first sight of Paolo." ^

^ " The Romance of the Italian Villas," E. Champney.

CHAPTER II

THE DIVINE COMEDY

Francesca — The Hunchback — Paolo il Bello — The histo-
rical descriptions of the miirderer and of the tragedy.

Turning a moment from history to fiction,
let us take the account Dante gives in his
" Divine Comedy " : i —

And I began : " O Poet, willingly

Speak would I to those two, wJw go together^
And seem upon the wind to be so lights

And he to me : " ThouHt mark, when they shall be
Nearer to us; and the?t do thou ijuplore them
By love which leadeth the?n, and they will corned

Soon as the wi?id in our directioji sways them,
My voice uplift I : " O ye weary souls !
Come speak to us, if no one interdict it.^^

As turtle doves, called onward by desire,

With open and steady wings to the sweet nest
Fly through the air by their volition borne,

So came they fro?n the land where Dido is,

^ Inferno, canto v., lines 73-142 (Longfellow's
translation).

16

T/ie Divine Comedy 17

Approachifjg us athwart the ai?' ?nalign,
So strong was the affectionate appeal,

" O living creature, gracious and benignant.
Who visiting goest through the purple air.
Us, who have stained the world incarnadine.

If were the King of the Universe oicr friend,
We would pray unto him to give thee peace.
Since thou hast pity on our woe perverse.

Of what it pleases thee to hear and speak,

That will we hear, and we will speak to you.
While silent is the wind, as it is 7iow.

Sitteth the city, wherein I was born.

Upon the seashore where the Po desce?ids
To rest in peace with all his reti?iue.

Love that on gentle heart doth swiftly seize.
Seized this 7na?tfor the person beautiful
That was tden from me, and still the ?node
offends me.

Love, that exejnpts no one beloved from loving.
Seized me with pleasure and this 7na?i so strongly,
That, as thou see^st, it doth not yet desert 7ne j

Love has co7tducted us unto 07ie death ;

Caina waileth hi7n who gue7iched our life / "

As soon as I had hea7'd those souls tormented,
I bowed 77iyface, and so long held it down
Until the Poet said to me : " What thi7ikestf''

When 1 77iade answer, I began : '''■Alas !

B

1 8 Francesca di Rimini

How many pleasant thoughts^ how much desire^
Condtictedl7iese~imJo'Vie''dd'lorOiis pass /''^

T/reWunTdlhTji'TI turnecfme, and I spak'e,
And I bega7i : " Thine agonies^ Frajtcesca^
Sad and coinpassionate to weepiiig make 7ne.

But tell me, at the time of those sweet sighs ^
By what and iji what ?nanner Love conceded
That you should know jmir dubious desires ? "

A?td she to me : " There is no greater sorrow
Than to be miiidful of the happy time
In misery, a?td that thy Teacher knows.

But, if to recog7tise the earliest root
Of love i?i us thou hast so great desire,
I will do even as he who weeps a7id speaks.

07ie day we 7'eadi7ig were for our delight
Of Launcelot, how Love did hi7n enthrall.
Alo7ie we we7'e, and without any fear.

Full 77iany a ti7ne our eyes together drew

That readi7ig, a7td drove the colour fro7n our

faces.
But 07te point 07ily was it that derca77ie us !

Whe7i as we read of the 7nuch-longed-for smile
Being by such a noble lover kissed.
This 07ie,juiko-Jii£r fro7n 77ie shall be divided.

Kissed 7ne upon the lips all palpitati7ig.
Galeottoti'as the bookji7td he who wrote it.
That day no farther did we read therein.^''

0

The Divine Comedy 19

Ajid all the while o?ie spirit uttered this^
The other 07ie did weep so, that for pity y
I swoo7ied away as if I had been dyin^,

A ltd fell, even as a dead body falls.

Such is the episode of the fifth canto of the
Inferno, and as Ampere has said, " There is
nothing in all poetry simpler and yet more
profound ; more pitiful, yet more restrained ;
purer, and at the same time more passionate,
than this story." What Dante has told us we
may look upon as additional historicaljnatter,
and not mere poetic fiction. At first the poet
does not name the two; they are "sad spirits"
floating in the air, yet, as he has implored in
the name of " Love which leadeth them," the
woman answers, and the mere relation of her
birthplace, her love and her death, are enough
to unveil her identity to Dante, who now calls
her by her name, "Francesca"; for her story
was widely known throughout Italy at the time
he wrote, and Dante, as we shall see later on,
had good cause to be made " sad and com-
passionate to weeping" by her relation.

20 France sea di Rimini

Francesca was the daughter of Guido di
Lamberto di Polenta, lord of Ravenna, who was
known as il Minore to distinguish him from
Guido il Vecchio. Polenta is the name of an
ancient fortress in the territory of Ravenna, near
Bertinoro, which gives its name to the family.
Later on the Polenta family, which had become
wealthy, made its home at Ravenna, and took
its place among the urban feudal nobihty, who
held the castelU within the city walls under their
feudal lords. The first Polenta of whom his-
tory makes mention is a certain Geremia who
appears about 1169. A century later, Guido
gives his daughter in marriage to Giovanni di
Malatesta, son of Malatesta da Verucchio, lord
of Rimini. The real title of Guido was that of
Viscount of the Archbishopric, which shows
that in the middle of the thirteenth century the
lord of Ravenna was a prelate. Guido himself,
a turbulent and ambilipiis_man_^. possessed of
remarkable courage, often driven from Ravenna
by party factions, and constantly at war with
His neighbours the Counts of Bagnacavallo, was

Ihe Divine Comedy 21

an adherent of the Pope. When the Emperors
of Germany were in power, he quitted Ravenna
with his men, and took refuge in some fortress
or town swayed by the Guelf faction to which
he belonged. He did not actually become
lord of Ravenna until the^Emperor, Rudolph
of Hapsburg, ceded the city to Pope Gregory,
whose rlglit to it he had previousl;^ disputed.
Guido appears first as consul, then as rector ;
in 1259 he is podesta at Cesena, and again in
1264. At the battle of Trentola (13th June
1275) he behaved with such gallantry in
marching to occupy Cervia, that he was chosen
to hold the highest power in Ravenna. His
mission there was to drive out the faction of
the Traversari, and from that time onwards his
position was unquestioned. To_this period
must be assigned the marriage of his daughter
with a son of Malatesta da Verucchio of
^IminiT Guido, who was considered a firm
supporter of the Church, fought successfully
against Montefeltro and the Ghibellines in
1282, and the Pope, Martin IV., still further

2 2 France sea di Rimini

increased his possessions by conferring on him
all the confiscated property of the rebels of
Bertinoro. He retired from public life in
1299, leaving the supremacy of his family
assured, and his power to his son. But he kept
his vote in council, it appears, for his signature
is found appended to an Act dated 1306.

Why Guido di Lamberto da Polenta married
his daughter Francesca to Giovanni Malatesta,
surnamed il Sciancato, son of his neighbour
Malatesta da Verucchio, lord of Rimini, is a
moot point. Luigi Tonini of Rimini, a dis-
tinguished scholar and historian, who has
collected and compared a great number of
documents, and a mass of historical evidence
relating to the marriage and the murder, has
been unable to come to any conclusion as to
the real object of the marriage. About this
there are two theories. The first, which has the
sanction of Muratori and Clementini, and is
drawn from the chroniclers of the fourteenth
century, is that Guido called in the aid of
Malatesta da Verucchio, who was the most

The Divine Comedy 23

powerful Guelf chief of the province, in order
to make himself supreme at Ravenna. Mala-
testa, then Captain of the People at Bologna,
sent his son Giovanni, and with his aid
Guido won his victory over the Traversari.
Francesca, by this theory, is the reward for
Giovanni's services. The second theory, which
entirely^contrjuiicts this, is that Malatesta was
the leader of the opposite faction at Trentola,
and that the marriage was a pledge of the re-
conciliation of the two families. Boccaccio
supports this theory; but, unfortunately, he is
not a contemporary authority. It, has been
objected that there never were any differences
between Gjiido and Malatesta, because both
"belonged to the same party, the Guelfs. But,
even in this case, local hostilities were always
possible, and rivalry between neighbouring
powers was frequent during the Middle Ages.
Tonini, as we have said, comes to no definite
conclusion, but he states that there is no trace
of any hostility between the two houses in first-
hand documents; while Litta, in his valuable

24 France sea di Rimtni

historical work on the genealogies of Italian
families, says that " if the theory be true, and
that it was a pledge of reconciliation, the mar-
riage must have taken place after the battle
of Trentola." In any case, whether it was a
pledge for the future, or a reward for ^ast aid
against the Traversari, there is no doubt about
the marriage itself, which must have taken
place between 1275 and 1276.^ There was
indeed a second link between the two families,
for we see by the will of Malatesta da Verucchio,
father of Giovanni (quoted by Tonini), that
Maddalena, Giovanni's sister, married Bernar-
dino da Polenta, brother of Francesca. Unfor-
tunately the will does not give the date of this
second marriage, but it must be later, and
must have taken place some time between
Francesca's marriage and her death — probably
between 1275 and 1280; for, according to
Litta's genealogies, Bernardino is the youngest

1 There is no reason why the authors of the libretto of
the o^txQ. Frqngoise de Rimini (by Ambroise^Thonias)
should have placed the action in 1 1 70.

The Divine Comedy 25

brother. History is silent on the subject of
the wife of Guido di Polenta il Minore, Fran-
cesca's mother. Francesca was the eldest
daughter and one of the two legitimate chil-
dren of a family of five, which included her
brothers Guidaccio, Lamberto, and Bernar-
dino, and her sister Samaritana. The Polenta
family died out about 1447. The exact date
of Francesca's birth is not given in any
genealogy, but it must have been some time
between 1255 and 1260. In the Polenta and
Malatesta families the women usually married
between the ages of fifteen and eighteen, and
this was probably Francesca's age when she
married in 1275, ^^^ ^^^ ^§^ is thus known
within five years approximately.

// Sciancato

Our authority for the early facts about
Giovanni Malatesta is the Codice Membranaceo,
a collection of authentic documents prepared
for the use of his family by Pandolfo Mala-

26 France sea di Rimini

testa, the original manuscript of which is still
in existence in the Gambalunga Library at
Rimini.

The whole Malatesta family — "a poisoned
race_"— is a curious study. The first of the
family named — after Hugo, the head of the
race who appears in 1132 — is Giovanni, who
lived at Penna Billi in the Montefeltrino, and
who in 1 150 received the citizenship of Rimini.
His son, who had the same name, was the
man whose_evij. jind violent humours won for
him the ominous surname of Malatesta. In
1 1 97 the Malatesta appear as making amends
for wrongs done to their " mother country."
At this period they were lords of the castle
of Verucchio. They gradually gathered force
and following; for the city was constantly at
war with its neighbours, or taking part in the
eternal struggles between the Pope and the
Emperor. In 1239 Ma]ajtesta^F(^c£^((9 mar-
ried a daughter ^f^iejrgdegliOnesti, and his
son, Malatesta da Verucchio, was the father of
Giovanni it Scigncato. The name of Malatesta

The Divine Comedy 27

recalls the passage in the Inferno (canto xxvii.)
in which Dante describes the lord of Rimini as
" the old mastiff" —

VerticcJiids ancieyit masiiff and the ficw
Who made such bad disposal of Montagna^
Where they ay-e ivonty make wimbles of their
teeth.

Malatesta da Verucchio was born in 12 12, and
married three times. He had eight children
by these marriages, and by his second wife,
.jConcordia, he had three sons, Giovanni, Paolo,
and Malatestinp. Malatesta da Verucchio, at
the time of the Polenta marriage, was the vir-
tual master of Rimini, though he was not as
yet officially recognised. Later on, however,
the family founded a dynasty, and remained in
power for many years, with the title of Vicars
of Holy Church in the cities of Rimini, Pesaro,
Fano, and Fossombrone.

In 1275 ^^ marriage of Giovanni with
FrancescaTdi Polenta took place. Giovanni
was, as we said, the eldest son of Malatesta da

28 France sea di Rimini

Verucchio, and though the correct date of his
birth is not given, that of the birth of his
younger brother Paolo_(i252) is established
by a legal document, and his age may be
guessed from the date of his tenure of office
as podesta. He was rugged and deformed
in person, and lame from a malformation of
the hip, whence his name of Giovanni il
Sciancato (" John the hipped ") ; he was also
known as Gianciotto and Lanciotto. A man
of daring courage and swift decision, implacable
in his hates, he had already, at the age of
twenty, won a reputation as a soldier, and was
considered as the natural successor to Mala-
testa da Verucchio, who was, even at that
time, aged, but who survived him, and lived to
be a hundred years old. He took his share in
the party warfare of the day, and when his
father was busy with other schemes^ and unable
to defend his own possessions, it was Giovanni
who took the field, and very often succeeded in
his enterprises.

It was a common thing at this time to

The Divine Comedy 29

entrust a stranger — a soldier or politician —
with the government of the towns of the Italian
republics, under the title of podesta, and from
1278 until 1304 Giovanni constantly appears
as podesta at Forli, at Faenza, and at Pesaro ;
and, confirmed in his tenure of office, he re-
turned three times running to his post in the
towns of the Romagna. From the fact that
he was podesta in 1278^ we can guess his age,
for no one was eligible for that office unless he
was thirty years old. Giovanni was therefore
born in, if not before, 1248, and might be
nearly thirty at the time of his marriage with
Francesca.

In 1275 h^ proved so useful to Guido da
Polenta in helping him to drive out the
Traversari from Ravenna as to win in reward
the hand of Francesca. We shall see, from
the only records that we have, that Francesca
was suspected, and proved to have deceived
him, and died by his hand, about 1285. By
Francesca he had one daughter, Concordia, to
whom he had given his mother's name. She

30 France sea di Rimwi

appears in the will of the centenarian Mala-
testa da Verucchio, who advises his grand-
children not to trouble // Sciancaio about the
dowry of Francesca di Polenta, the mother of
Concordia. After the murder of Francesca,
Giovanni married Zambrasina, daughter of
Tibaldello dei Zambrasi di Faenza, the widow,
in 1282, of Tino d' Ugolino Fantolini, who
met his death at Forh. By his second wife,
Giovanni had three sons, Tino, Guido, and
Ramberto ; and two daughters, Margherita and
Rengarduccia. In 1295 Giovanni was already
established at Rimini, and was virtually master
there during the lifetime of his father. In
1294 he built the famous fortress known as
the Rocca Malatestiana to overawe his new
vassals, and in 1304 he died at Rimini and
disappeared from history. It will be remem-
bered that he is only indirectly and allusively
mentioned by Dante in the line —

Caino attende chi ci vita spense —

•• The circle of Cain waits for him who quenched

The Divine Comedy 3 i

our life " ; the word Caino being an allusion to
the relationship between him and Paolo.

Paolo il Bello

Paolo, the third actor in this drama, " This
one who ne'er from me shall be divided," as
Francesca says, was the younger brother of
Giovanni, and son of the centenarian Mala-
testa da Verucchio. He was known, from his
beauty, as Paolo il Bello, and though by some
years Giovanni's junior, he married earlier.
When only seventeen years old he was married,
in 1269, to Orabile Beatrice, daughter and
heiress of Uberto, Count of Chiaggiolo, then
only fifteen years of age. This county, which
included Cusercolo, Valpondi, Segano, and
other places of minor importance, was entirely
dependent upon the suzerainty of the Church at
Ravenna, and was included in the diocese of
Sarsina. On the death of Uberto, on March
15, 1203, Malatesta da Verucchio stepped into
his place, thus depriving Orabile Beatrice of

32 France sea di Rimi?n

her rights. Her uncle by marriage, who hap-
pened to be also a bitter enemy of the Mala-
testas, Guido, Count of Montefeltro, a member
of that noble house, afterwards famous in the
annals of Pesaro and Urbino, loudly protested
against the injustice of this. Accordingly, on
28th August 1269, the difference was arranged
by thejanion_jof Paolo and OrabUe, and the
betrothal took place at Urbino, in the church
of Santa Croce, where Orabile signed a docu-
ment renouncing her claimJ;o her inheritance,
thus leaving her father-in-law, Malatesta da
Verucchio, in possession. He, on his side,
agreed to give his daughter-in-law a dowry of
6250 " Hre of Ravenna and Ancona." This
deed gives the age of the bride as fifteen years.
The original of the document, which is printed
by the Count Battaghini, is in the Archivio
BrandoHni at Forli. It is written in Latin,
and is transcribed in the Appendix of the
Selva Genealogica of Brancaleone at the Gam-
balunga Library at Rimini; and Tonini also
quotes it in extenso. The importance of

The Divine Comedy 33

the deed lies in the fact that it shows
that the Malatesta marriages were made with
political objects in view, like those of crowned
heads. As in 1269 Paolo Malatesta, at the
age of seventeen, marries the daughter of
the Count of Chiaggiolo, to cover a high-
handed act of usurpation on his father's part,
so in 1275 Francesca di Polenta is _s_acrificed_
to Giovanni, who was lame and a rough soldier,
in order to secure or strengthen an alliance
with the Polenta family. As a natural result,
Paolo's wife is forsaken for Francesca, while
Francesca, discovered in a love affair, or in
open unfaithfulness with her brother-in-law,
falls with her lover, by her husband's dagger.

The date of the death of Paolo's wife, Orabile
Beatrice, is uncertain. She bore her husband
two children, one of them a son, named Uberto.
This youth, who is said to have inherited his
father's beauty and spirit, grew to manhood,
when he indiscreetly announced his inten-
tion of avenging the murder of his father.
When Gianciotto heard of this resolve, his

c

34 France sea di Rimini

natural impulse was to compass the death of
the young Uberto as promptly as possible, and
this he is said to have done in a particularly
perfidious and atrocious manner. He caused
Uberto to be enticed to a banquet, where two
of Gianciotto's bastard sons suddenly sprang
upon him like tigers, and stabbed him to the
heart with their stilettos.

CHAPTER III

DANTE AND FRANCESCA

Contemporary xvihiesses — Boccaccj^^and^thjiJfgmd-— The
relations between Paolo and Francesca.

Taking the central fact of the murder as our
starting-point, let us consider how it struck
the imagination of the time, and its effect on
those who, if not contemporary, were very
nearly so; the direction that pubHc opinion
took in the district where the murder took
place; and what influenced Dante to make
use of the incident. Did he merely take it
as so mucE poetic material, or did he wish to
brand a Guelf leader as a murderer, and what
was the connection between him and the
Polenta family ?

If Francesca's guilt is once admitted, there is
some justification for the action of her husband
— an action which, even under our modern
laws, carries with it no disgrace for the mur-
derer. " Kill the woman " is the well-known

35

36 France sea di 'Rimini

remedy of a French dramatic author, and
Giovanni did not hesitate to sacrifice two lives.
But as no extenuating circumstances are even
hinted at in the " Divine Comedy," we are in-
clined to pity the two, who would appear in the
simjple statements of any genealogy as_guilty,
and that with every reason to check them, on
the downward paths of passion.

Dante was a contemporary. As he was
born at Florence in 1265, he was ten years
old at the time of Francesca's marriage, and
he had grown to manhood, and had also written
some poetry, when the murder took place. It
is impossible that the poet, with his tempera-
ment, and conscious of his own passion, which
has become immortal, should have been in-
different to *' the pity of" the story. He must
have had full knowledge of it. He had friends
at Pesaro, at Forli, and at Ravenna; he might
have known Paolo Malatesta in 1282, at
Florence, when Paolo was capitano del populo.
The memory of Francesca must have been
kept alive by a more personal and intimate

Dante and France sea 37

tie, for, after her history had become a popu-
lar legend, "an old, unhappy, far-off thing,"
Dante, grief-stricken, and with his career as a
soldier and ambassador ended, came to " eat
the bread of exile" at Ravenna, in the very
house where she was born, and which was
then the home of Guido Novello da Polenta,
lord of Ravenna, a poet like Dante, and a
distinguished soldier, the son of Ostasio di
Polenta, a grandson of Francesca's father,
Guido il Minore.

Dante's presence at Ravenna was not the
result of accident, or of the caprice of the
poet-prince; it was his second visit, and it is
possible that here, in a place so nearly asso-
ciated with her, he may have been able to
gather together the threads of the unhappy
story. A proof that his connection with the
Polenta family j\vas no new one, is to be found
in the dedication to Guido Novello, at the
head of the canzone on the death of Henry
VII. It has sometimes been stated that Dante
wrote the episode of Paolo and Francesca in

38 France sea di Rimini

return for the hospitality of the Polentas, but,
as a comparison of dates shows, it is a Polenta
who proves his gratitude to Dante by offering
him an unfailing and unflagging protection,
which is an honour to his memory and to the
town of Ravenna.

Of the " Divine Comedy," the first five cantos
were certainly written at Rome, about April
1300. Dante was ambassador of the Floren-
tine republic when Boniface VIII. proclaimed
thefirst jubilee. It was here, and in a mood
of religious contemplation, that he wrote the
first cantos of the Inferno, and among them
the fifth, which contains the episode. Writing
thus, he was only separated by fifteen years
from the event; and fifteen years are but a
short space in the life of a story which has
become immortal.

From the year 1307 onwards, Dante wandered
here and there in the Romagna, and it was not
until 131 7 that he accepted the hospitality of
Guido Novello, at whose court he remained
until his death on 14th September 132 1.

Dante and Franc esc a 39

His country was his no longer; for he had
made the " great renunciation " in the famous
letter in which, with all the fire of a poet and
a patriot, he refuses to stoop to pass under the
low gateway, to re-enter Florence. Guido's
hospitality was prompted by two motives —
family feeling, and the respect of a poet for
the greatest poet of the day; for Dante, by
idealising the frailty of Francesca in his poem,
had thrown a veil of pity upon her story and
her sin. On Dante's death, Guido paid him
the last honours. He had the body carried to
San Pier Maggiore (later San Francesco) by
the first citizens of Ravenna, he ordered public
mourning for him, and read a funeral oration
of his own composition, in which he praised
Dante for having used Italian instead of Latin
in his poems. He publicly placed the poet's
laurel on Dante's tomb, and was about to
raise a monument to him which should be
worthy of his memory, when he was forced,
by political troubles, to leave his dominions.
It was Bembo, Praetor of Ravenna for Venice,

40 Francesca di Rimini

and father of the famous cardinal, who at last
provided a final resting-place for the poet's re-
mains, and commissioned one of the greatest
artists in Venice in the fifteenth century, Pietro
Lombardi (1483), to design his tomb.^

The Evidence of Contemporary or
Early Writers

Let us now consider the value of the various
authorities which may aid us in the task of
separating the actual from the legendary story.
As, however, we are still in the " dark ages "
of history, and do not know the real truth
about the more important events of the day,
it may be doubted whether we can hope to
reconstruct, with any semblance of truth, a
minor episode in the history of a little town
on the shores of the Adriatic, at the close of

^ Signer Gasparo Martinetti Cardoni of Ravenna had
published a book, Dante Alighieri in Ravenna, memorie
storiche con documenti, containing documents relating to
Dante's stay in Ravenna, and the singular fate of his
remains.

Dante and France sea 41

the thirteenth century. Before consulting the
historians proper, let us first sift the evidence
of the chroniclers, or those still earlier commen-
tators, who attempted to explain the text of the
"Divine Comedy" soon after its appearance.
The first of these in point of date are Dante's
sons Pietro and Giacopo Alighieri. Ten years
after the death of his father, Giacopo thought it
his duty to finish the Paradiso^ but he gave
up the task, and contented himself with writ-
ing a Latin commentary upon it. Next came
Giacopo della Lena, Gradenigo, and the first
of the public commentators, Giovanni Boc-
caccio, who in 1373 filled the Cathedra Dantesca
at Florence. Giacopo Alighieri^s commentary
throws no light on the subject, while Giacopo
della Lena's, which is copied almost word for
word by Gradenigo, will be quoted later on.
Boccaccio's commentary^ on the other hand, is
^by^ar the most important ; the authority of his
name makes his evidence of interest, and It Is
very probable that his account gives the real
truth.

42 France sea di Rimim

Boccaccio and the Legend

In 1373, fifty years after the death of Dante,
and during a lull in the political storms of
the day, there arose a sudden and enthusi-
astic cult for him ; Florence decided to pay
an annual sum of one hundred florins to a
lector publicus^ whose duty it was to explain
the jtext of „ Dante. Boccaccio was the first
to fill the chair. The Provvizione of the
Republic is dated 12 th August, and on
3rd October Boccaccio gave a lecture in the
hall of a monastery near San Stefano, not
far from the Ponte Vecchio ; he continued
his lectures until his death in 1375, and the
year before it his commentaries appeared,
and have often been reprinted since then.
Pisa followed suit; then Bologna, where the
famous Benvenuto da Imola was appointed
lecturer; and in 1398 Piacenza, where Galeazzo
Visconti filled the chair. All Italy, indeed,
was bent on doing honour to the poet's

Dante and Franc esc a 43

memory, and the commentators became so
numerous that the elucidation ot Dante's text
brought with it '' no hght, but rather dark-
ness visible." This commentating and lec-
turing still goes on ; and the bibliography of
Dante fills several volumes.

The farther we go from the thirteenth cen-
tury, the more difficult it becomes to throw
new light upon the question. Some important
pieces of evidence had been discovered from
manuscripts, monastic registers, legal docu-
ments, &c., but all the best historians, from
Guicciardini, Rossi, Clementini, Marco Bat-
taglia, and a host of others, down to those
of a more recent period, used the same
materials, until modern writers introduced
the principle of working only from original
and first-hand documents, for which they
have searched religious houses, palaces, public
repositories, and municipal buildings. Two
modern scholars, Lmgi Tonini, the historian
of Rimini, and Monsignor Marino Marini,
the historian of Sant' Arcangelo, prefect of

44 Francesca di Rimini

the archives of the Vatican, working on this
system, have collected a certain number of
documents from local sources, but without
attempting to work them up into a complete
picture. The former, whose history of Rimini
was unfortunately never finished, was per-
suaded that the murder took place at Rimini,
while the latter is in favour of Sant' Arcangelo.
We will consider their theories later on, but
let us first take Boccaccio's commentary, which
is what he delivered as a lecture in Florence
in 1373. It was translated from his com-
mentary by Leigh Hunt, in " Stories from
the Italian Poets," Appendix II. : —

" You must know that this lady, Madonna
Francesca, was daughter of Messer Guido
the Elder, lord of Ravenna and of Cervia,
and that a long and grievous war having been
waged between him and the lords Malatesta of
Rimini, a treaty of peace by certain mediators
was at length concluded between them ; the
which, to the end that it might be the more
firmly established, it pleased both parties to

Dante and France sea 45

desire to fortify, by relationship ; and the
matter of this relationship was so discoursed,
that the said Messer Guido agreed to give
his young and fair daughter in marriage to
Gianciotto, the son of Messer Malatesta.
Now, this being made known to certain of
the friends of Messer Guido, one of them
said to him : * Take care what you do ; for
if you contrive not matters discreetly, such
relationship will beget scandal. You know
what manner of person your daughter is,
and of how lofty a spirit ; and if she see
Gianciotto before the bond is tied, neither
you nor any one else will have power to
persuade her to marry him ; therefore, if it
so please you, it seems to me that it would
be good to conduct the matter thus : namely,
that Gianciotto should not come hither him-
self to marry her, but that a brother of his
should come and espouse her in his name.'
" Gianciotto was a man of great spirit, and
hoped, after his father's death, to become lord
of Rimini; in the contemplation of which

46 Francesca di Rimini

event, albeit he was rude in appearance and a
cripple {Sciancato)^ Messer Guido desired him
for a son-in-law above any one of his brothers.
Discerning, therefore, the reasonableness of
what his friend counselled, he secretly disposed
matters according to his device ; and a day
being appointed, Paolo, a brother of Gian-
ciotto, came to Ravenna with full authority
to espouse Madonna Francesca. Paolo was a
handsome man, very pleasant, and of a courteous
breeding ; and passing with other gentlemen
over the courtyard of the palace of Messer
Guido, a damsel who knew him pointed him
out to Madonna P'rancesca, through an open-
ing in the casement, saying, ' That is he that
is to be your husband ; ' and so indeed the
poor lady believed, and incontinently placed in
him her whole affection ; and the ceremony of
the marriage having been thus brought about
{e faito pot artificiosamenie il contralto delle
sponsalizie) and the lady conveyed to Rimini,
she became not aware of the deceit, till the
morning ensuing the marriage, when she beheld

Dante and Francesca 47

Gianciotto rise from her side ; the which dis-
covery moved her to such disdain, that she
became not a whit the less rooted in her love
for Paolo. Nevertheless, that it grew to be
unlawful I never heard, except in what is
written by this author (Dante), and possibly
it might have so become ; albeit I take what
he says to have been an invention, framed on
the possibility, rather than anything which he
knew of his own knowledge. Be this as it
may, Paolo and Madonna Francesca living in
the same house, and Gianciotto being gone
into a certain neighbouring district as gover-
nor, they fell into great companionship with
one another, suspecting nothing ; but a servant
of Gianciotto's, noting it, went to his master
and told him how matters looked ; with the
which, Gianciotto being fiercely moved, secretly
returned to Rimini; and seeing Paolo enter
the room of Madonna Francesca, the while he
himself was arriving, went straight to the door,
and, finding it locked inside, called to his lady
to come out ; for Madonna Francesca and

48 Francesca di Rimini

Paolo having descried him, Paolo thought to
escape suddenly through an opening in the
wall, by means of which there was a descent
into another room; and therefore, thinking to
conceal his fault either wholly or in part, he
threw himself into the opening, telling the lady
to go and open the door. But his hope did
not turn out as he expected ; for the hem of a
mantle which he had on, caught upon a nail,
and the lady opening the door meantime, in
the belief that all would be well, by reason of
Paolo's not being there, Gianciotto caught
sight of Paolo as he was detained by the hem
of the mantle, and straightway ran with his
dagger in his hand to kill him ; whereupon the
lady, to prevent it, ran between them ; but
Gianciotto, having lifted the dagger, and put
the whole force of his arm into the blow, there
came to pass what he had not desired —
namely, that he struck the dagger into the
bosom of the lady before it could reach Paolo ;
by which accident, being as one who loved
the lady better than himself, he withdrew the

Dante and France sea 49

dagger and again struck at Paolo, and slew
him ; and so leaving them both dead, he
hastily went his way, and betook him to his
wonted affairs ; and the next morning the two
lovers, with many tears, were buried together in
the same grave."

It is Leigh Hunt, the translator of this
passage, who speaks of the episode of Fran-
cesca as standing in the Inferno " like a Hly in
the mouth of Tartarus."

Boccaccio's account, though not contempo-
rary, and the work of a raconteur, a past-master
in the art of skilful presentation of facts and
the sketchings of plots, is an historical docu-
ment dating from 1 373, of the highest value and
importance. It has, however, been severely
criticised by some authorities, and a vindica-
tion of it is perhaps not unnecessary.

Though a poet, Boccaccio is supposed to
be accurate and reliable, and in this par-
ticular case there are many circumstances in
his favour, such as his early date, the authority
of his name, and a statement he makes in the

D

50 France sea di Rimini

first chapter of his Commentaries, which proves
that while preparing his lectures he had taken
trouble to investigate facts about Dante, before
writing or pubUcly commenting upon him.
He says that he had wished to speak of the
event " with a brave man, Ser Piero di Messer
Gardino da Ravenna, who had been one of
Dante's most intimate friends and servants in
this town."

If, then, we have not the exact truth, we
have something very like it ; at the very least,
Boccaccio, in explaining the episode in the
fifth canto of the Inferno in a public lecture,
must have echoed local traditions faithfully.
It should be noticed, however, that there is
a misstatement contained in the very first line,
for Francesca was not the daughter of Guido
il Vecchio, but of Guido il Minore ; but the
real relationships have only been established
recently, by the patient researches of modern
genealogists. Boccaccio gives no proofs, but he
is decided in his view of the understanding
between Paolo and Francesca : though a poet

Dante and France sea 51

and a raconteur himself, he almost accuses Dante
of having exaggerated "by an invention " the
degree of Francesca's guilt. He is very ex-
plicit upon the circumstances of the marriage,
and states that the deformed Gianciotto was
substituted for his brother, Paolo il Bello, by a
trick, in the dark. He briefly indicates the high
spirit of the young girl, the unprepossessing
appearance and deformity of the husband, and
by the contrast of the beauty and amiability of
Paolo, the natural result of such an ill-assorted
marriage is hinted at. The trickery used is
an added provocation, and is quite in keeping
with the times. It corresponds, too, with what
we have already said of the habit of those nobles
of forming political alliances, without any con-
sideration for the feelings of their children.

In a writer who usually has no objection to a
risky situation, Boccaccio is curiously cautious
and restrained in his account. He does not
accuse Francesca, and he even suspects Dante
of having made her fault greater than it really
was. He takes her part from the moment

52 France sea di Rimini

that the lady showed her from the window
"her husband that was to be." E cosi si credea
la buona femmina. Di che Madonna Francesca
incontanente in lui puose I'anitno et Pamor suo.
She incontinently placed in him her whole
affection ; he is young and handsome, her
ideal takes actual shape, and the buona fem-
mina vows her love to the man she had seen.
The deceit, which has not been disproved by
any documentary evidence, is also clearly
stated by Boccaccio. The author of Chiose
sopra Dante (which was once attributed to
Boccaccio), and the historians Rossi and
Clementina, state that Francesca was first
betrothed to Paolo. This, however, is im-
possible, since Paolo was married six years
before his elder brother. ^ We may conclude
from Boccaccio's story that a substitution did
take place, and that if we take his account

^ Though the authors of the libretto of Fran^oise de
Rimini did not choose to follow history in their fiction,
they have adopted this theory. The story Boccaccio tells
would have made a far finer drama.

Dante and France sea 53

quite literally, Giovanni introduced himself by
night, when the lady was conveyed to Rimini.
" The morning ensuing the marriage," when it
was light, he must have risen from her side —
there is no doubt about the meaning of the text :
Non s^avvide primo dello inganno, che assa vide
la maiina seguente al di delle nozze, levar da lato
a se Gianciotto.

Boccaccio's account is consistent : he admits
the deceit, and shows the natural consequences
of it. The " discovery moved her to such dis-
dain, that she became not a whit the less
rooted in her love for Paolo." He admits
that they " fell into great companionship " —
dimestichezza ; but, as we have seen, when it
comes to the point of telling us how far the
lovers went, he refuses to do so, and says
that he is inclined to believe that Dante's
account is "an invention framed on a pos-
sibility rather than on anything he knew of
his own knowledge " — Piuttosto fizion formata
sopra quello^ che era possibUe ad essere avenufOt
che io non credo, que /aidore sapesse che cost fosse.

54 Francesca di 'Rimini

We may notice, by the way, an expression
used in the account of the servant who de-
nounces them — cib che delle bisogne sapeva.
Perhaps this is only an ordinary use of the
word {le bisogne = m2itteYs, affairs), but only
those who have studied fourteenth-century
ItaHan can tell if there is any analogy in
meaning between this word and la besongne,
as Montaigne understood it.

In continuing Boccaccio's account, we may
notice the rock upon which two distinguished
historians have spUt. Gianciotto had " gone
into a certain neighbouring district as gover-
nor [podesta) ; the two lovers saw each other
freely, the servant betrayed them, and the
husband secretly returned to Rimini." Now,
if Boccaccio's evidence is accepted as trust-
worthy, it is impossible to see why Mon-
signor Marini, prefect of the archives of the
Vatican, in his Osservazione critiche intorno
a Francesca da Rimini^ should have tried to
prove that the murder did not take place at
Rimini, but at Sant' Arcangelo, a small place

Dante and Frances ca 55

about six miles from Rimini ; which many
persons have visited, to see if there were any
ruins of a fortress or palace ot the thirteenth
century, which might have belonged to the
Malatesta family, and where the murder might
have taken place.

Let us continue our examination of Boc-
caccio's story. The two lovers are discovered
together, and they are killed ; but Boccaccio
states quite clearly that the death of Francesca
is the result of an accident. Gianciotto was
about to strike his brother, but Francesca
tried to ward off the blow, " into which he
had put the whole force of his arm " — avveva
gia alzato il braccio con lo stocco in mano^ e
tutto si gravava sopra il colpo. Before it could
reach Paolo, the dagger struck into the bosom
of Francesca : prima passb lo stocco il petto
delta donna, che egli aggiitgnesse a Paolo, and
Gianciotto is heart-broken, " being as one
who loved the lady better than himself." He
withdraws his dagger, and strikes and kills his
brother. Thus in Boccaccio's version there

56 France sea di Rimini

are many extenuating circumstances for the
murder. The first fatal blow is an accident,
as Boccaccio says, and the second is struck
after the death of Gianciotto's first victim,
whom he passionately loved. He leaves the
two lying dead, and returns to his office —
an important point, for he was podesta, and
as podesta he was prevented by law, and
by the custom of the time, from taking his
wife with him to the place where he held
office. He must have thus left his post to
revenge himself, or to ascertain the lovers'
guilt — if they were indeed guilty. The bodies
are taken up, and with many tears — con molti
lacrime — are buried in the same grave. This
last circumstance is curious, and though only
a minor detail, it is possible to draw conclu-
sions from it. The burial of the lovers in the
same grave is a point upon which every one
is agreed, and we might even quote a curious
document in support of it, which has been
considered by some as conclusive. That such
a burial was possible in the case of these

Dante and France sea 57

two lovers — who were each^ we must remem-
ber, married — there must have been a strong
feeling of sympathy for them in the town,
and pity for their death. We may wonder,
though love — even guilty love, when atoned
for by such a death — would naturally create a
profound feeling of pity in a nation so emo-
tional, ardent, and passionate as the Itahan,
how it was possible that the Malatesta family
could have allowed the glorification of an
offence for which there was so little excuse,
in the very town they dominated, and in the
very scene of the wrong-doing. It was cer-
tainly treating Orabile Beatrice, Paolo's lawful
wife, with very scant consideration.

There is yet another witness to be called
and examined, the evidence of the dead, which
Dante has put into the mouth of Francesca.
Dante wished to know

" at the time of those sweet sighs ^
By what and in what manner Love C07iceded^
That you should know your dubious desires. ^^

The spirit who tells the story of the kiss

58 Francesca at Rimini

lets fall that saddest of utterances, which
Alfred de Musset thought a blasphemy, and
which he did not expect to hear from Fran-
cesca's lips : —

Daiite^ pourquoi dis-tu quHl 71! est pire juisere
Quhin souvenir heureiix dans les jours de douleur?
Quel chag7'in fa dicte cette parole ainere,
Cette offense au 7nalheur ?

She tells him : —

" Sitteth the city wherein I was born
Upon the seashore whei'e the Po descends
To rest in peace with all his retifiue^^

And all who have seen the mouths of the
Po, a very retinue of rivers and rivulets —
the Tesseno, the Adda, the Oho, the Mincio,
the Trebbia, the Barmida, and the Taro —
losing themselves in the sand where they
enter the sea, have recognised Ravenna. She
confesses her love, and the strictest can find
nothing to object to in her short relation,
which is perfect and complete in its way,
and one that artists for many centuries have

Dante and France sea 59

tried to paint, without ever succeeding in
attaining Dante's poetic level : —

" One day we reading lu ere for our delight

Of Launcclot^ Jww Love did him enthrall.

Moved we were^ aiid without any fear.
Full many a time our eyes together drew

That 7'eading^ and drove the colour from our
faces J

But one point only was it that dercame us.
Whe7i as we read of the micch-longedfor smile

Being by such a noble lover kissed,

This one^ who ne^erfrom me shall be divided^
Kissed me upon the lips all palpitating.

Galeotto was the book and he who wrote it.

That day no farther did we read thereinP

That book, of which one passage only " over-
came " them, is "The Romance of Launcelot
of the Lake, Knight of the Round Table," an
old French classic. There was, at one time,
a great deal of mistaken ingenuity lavished
on the verse —

" Galeotto fu il libro e chi lo scrisseP

The meaning is, however, quite unmistakable,

6o France sea di Rimini

and this is the passage which overcame the
two lovers : —

« < Why should I cause myself to be entreated? '
quoth she. ' / ant even more willing than you,^
Then the three went apart, and seemed to
take counsel together. Then the Queen saw
that the knight dared to no more, and took
him by the chin, and gave him a long kiss in
the presence of Gallehaut." The passage —

" Galeoitofu it libra e chi lo scrisse" —

is explained by what we know of the plot of
the story. It is Gallehaut who pushes the
Queen into the arms of Launcelot ; it is Galle-
haut who, by saying that that knight's valiant
deeds were only undertaken to please the
Queen, with whom Launcelot is passionately
in love, makes himself the medium and go-
between in their love-affairs ; and asks that
the Queen should give her knight a kiss, as a
reward for his service. The go-between, in the
case of Francesca and Paolo, is " The Romance
of Launcelot of the Lake," whose most moving

Dante and Francesca 6i

passage they read, as they sat together, and
so the Romance, and " he who wrote it," was
to them another Gallehaut.

It is interesting to find that before 1300
the old French chivalric romances were widely
known in Italy, where they were read in
Provencal, in French, and in Latin. It is
impossible to say whether the lovers were
actually reading when Gianciotto surprised
them, but the fact that Dante places the book
in their hands is a proof of the far-reaching
influences of the earliest French literature upon
the other side of the Alps. It is most un-
likely that Dante's account is purely fictional,
and one is inchned to beUeve that there must
have been some account, some well-authenti-
cated tradition, on which his version is based.

The lips of the lovers meet, and the curtain
falls upon them, with that line of supreme
reserve —

" That day no farther did we read therein."

This reserve, however, does not satisfy every one.

62 France sea di Kimini

and many chroniclers and commentators prefer
to believe that it was not at this psychological
moment, but somewhat later, that Gianciotto
knocked loudly at the door of the Gattolo.

The Relations between Paolo and Francesca

Our personal conviction, for reasons already
stated, is that Boccaccio's commentary is the
most trustworthy authority on the subject.
His evidence, as we have seen, has been
questioned, not only by a few Italian, but
by some French commentators, and by some
modern historians. To take their criticisms
one by one, it has been denied that there
was any hostility or actual strife between the
Malatesta and Polenta families at this time.
This is really only a minor point, for the
marriage might equally well have been the
result of an offensive and defensive alliance,
or of the gratitude of Guido da Polenta to
Malatesta da Verucchio for his services in
helping him to drive out the Traversari from
Ravenna. In the second place, Monsignor

Dante and France sea 63

Marino Marini thought that Rimini was not
the scene of the murder. He was thus
obUged to set aside Boccaccio, who clearly
states that Gianciotto was podesta at a neigh-
bouring town, and that he had to rehirn to
Rimini to find out the truth and discover
the offenders. Fauriel, who was the first
professor ^ of foreign literature at the Univer-
sity of Paris, and who lectured on the " Divine
Comedy," represented Boccaccio's story as the
work of a writer of romances, who had the
knack of disposing and touching up his origi-
nals in the most effective and life-like manner.
He does not, however, give any good reason
for this opinion of his, and we are thus led
to inquire if there is any evidence more con-
clusive than Dante's or Boccaccio's, before or
after their day. The chroniclers who mention
the story, however, are not contemporary, but
belong to the period immediately following.
The Latin chronicle of Marco Battaglia, pub-
lished by Muratori under the title of Anonymi
1 Founded 1531.

64 France sea di Rimini

Itali Historia^ and whose date is from 1354 to
1385, records the murder incidentally as fol-
lows : Paulus autem fuit tnortims per fratrem
suumjoannein Zoctum ex causa luxurice commissce
cum Francisca Guidonis filia di Polenta^ uxore
fratris germani Fault, cum qua Faulus passus
est mortem. This is evidence that the murder
really happened, but does not throw any light
upon the details.

The original manuscript commentary by
Jacobus Gradenigo de Venetiis, with illumi-
nated miniatures, once in the possession of
Cardinal Garampi and now in the Gambalunga
Library at Rimini, is a copy, almost word for
word, of another and earlier commentary, that
of Giacopo della Lena, published by Vandelin.
The handwriting of the manuscript shows that
it was written towards the end of the fourteenth
century, between 1389 and 1399. It is thus
later in date than Boccaccio, but Giacopo della
Lena is earlier. Gradenigo — and therefore
Della Lena — go much further than Boccaccio
in their statements. Before commenting on the

Dante and France sea 65

passage, they treat the event as if it were an
Istorietta or a Novella. The somewhat outspoken
ItaUan of the old chronicles, which is a little
difficult to translate on that account, runs as
follows : " Giovanni, son of Messer Malatesta
Vecchio of Rimini, had to wife Francesca,
daughter of Messer Guido da Polenta, Lord
of Ravenna. This Francesca '■ giaceva^ with
Paolo, her husband's brother, and her own
brother-in-law, and though corrected many
times by her husband, neither she nor her love
would make an end. So that, at last, it came
to pass that Giovanni found them in the act
{suso il peccato)^ and spitted them upon a
sword, so that they died in one another's
arms." This is certainly the fullest account we
have, and those who wish for the details of
what happened when " The Romance of Lance-
lot of the Lake " fell to the ground, ought to be
satisfied. We must remember, however, that
the manuscript of Gradenigo was written about
a century after the events.

There are other documents which might be

E

66 France sea di Rimini

quoted, but there are none earlier than this.
There is Fra Giovanni da Serravalle, who in
141 6 wrote a Latin commentary by order of
the Fathers of the Council of Constance ; and
though Gradenigo is explicit enough, Serra-
valle's Latin may be found more convincing.
He describes the already often-quoted episode,
mentions the " Lancelot," and after an allusion
to its most moving passage, expresses himself
as follows : Hoc lecto Paulus Franciscam in-
tuitus fuit et in tali intuitu palluerunt ambo et
rubuerunt tandem habuerunt rent simul. Unus
ex f ami Ha Ganschiatti {Gianciottd^ hoc vidit^ et
revelavit domino suo^ qui posuit se in insidiiSy
et breviter ambos unum super alium amplexatos
interfecit !

A point to be noticed is that in Boccaccio and
in the commentators, Giovanni enters and takes
his revenge at once ; here, on the other hand,
some time elapses between the sin and its
punishment. A paragraph from the fifteenth-
century Cronica Pesarese, by Tommaso Diplova-
tazio, places the event first at Pesaro, then at

Dante and Franc esc a 67

Rimini, and describes it in these words :
Hoc anno (1296) ferunt Joannem Sancatum
potestatem et capitaneum Pisauri dominam
Franciscam filiam domini Guidonis de Polenta
Ravennce Domini, ejus uxorem, gladio con-
fodisse inventam in adulterio cum Paulo Bello
fraire dicti Joannis.

Diplovatazio will be considered later, when
we discuss the place, and the date of the
murder, for the date he gives is not a possible
one.

Next comes Baldo di Branchi, whose chron-
icle, written in Italian, is dated 1454. His
account, translated, is as follows : " In this
month (September 1287) a strange thing
happened in the house of Malatesta. The
aforesaid Malatesta had some years ago mar-
ried his son Giovanni to a noble lady of
Ravenna, by name Francesca, who was a very
beautiful person, and it is said for some years
past lei e Paolo usanno insieme. Gianciotto,
who discovered them in the act (suso il fatto),
slew them both."

68 France sea di Rimini

Teofilo Betti, whose unpublished Dellie ose
Pesarese is later, has a delightful description of
the scene, but in spite of the refinement of his
language, his morality is none of the strictest :
Ogmmo sa eke furono ambedue trafitti da
Giovanni il quale li sorprese nella piic interessante
e deliziosa operazione che la natura inspira ai
mortali. This Teofilo Betti, who throws such
a poetical light upon their sin, gives first
Rimini, then Pesaro, as the scene of the event.
He names the Gattolo of the Malatestas, or
the Tingoli palace in the market-place at
Rimini, and at Pesaro, the building where the
" Salara " is to-day ; but in both cases he
merely echoes the traditions current in his
days.

We have quoted the more important chron-
iclers from the thirteenth to the fifteenth
century. Those of the sixteenth and the fol-
lowing centuries, and the national historians,
have only worked up the old chroniclers, and
have repeated what the others have said, be-
cause they have all had access to the sources

Dante and France sea 69

we have quoted. It has been the work of
writers of to-day, and their immediate pre-
decessors, to throw new light upon the actual
scene and date of the event, by searching
through the documents of the Archivio NotariUy
the papal briefs, the documents relative to the
emancipation of minors, wills, " provisions " or
decisions of the rectors, consuls, and podestas
of Rimini, Pesaro, and Sant' Arcangelo. But
though they have succeeded in gaining more
precise information as to *' place " and " time,"
they have not superseded or disproved the
accounts of the chroniclers. Boccaccio had
said that Giovanni was podesta, and the place
where he held office has been discovered ; the
date of his absence has been verified, in order
to find out that of his return ; the murder was
an established fact, and the scene of it has
been discovered. The ages of the husband,
the wife, and the lover have been inquired
into; whether Paolo was married and had
any children ; whether Francesca, too, left
any descendants; whether Paolo was older or

70 France sea di 'Rimini

younger than his brother, and why, in this
latter case, was he married before his elder
brother ? All questions that seem of little
interest or importance — and are so to a poet
— but which are interesting to the historian,
and give an air of reality to the story. Such
a question was at the bottom of the violent
discussion between Tonini and Monsignor
Marino Marini, who were both agreed upon
the main facts, but differed upon the questions
of time and place.

CHAPTER IV

THE SITE OF THE TRAGEDY

IP^as it at Rimini, Pesaro, or Sant' Arcangdo? —
Examination of the evidence as to each — The
opinions of Tonini and Monsignor Marino Marini
— Conclusion.

After sifting the evidence of chroniclers and
commentators upon Dante, the next thing is
to see if there are at Ravenna or Rimini any
of those mute witnesses to history, such as
monuments or inscriptions, contemporary with
the Polenta and Malatesta families.

Francesca has told us that she was born
** by the sea-shore " — su la marina; and her
ancestors must have lived in the seigneurial
palace, or castle, of Ravenna. In the very
year of her marriage, 1275, her father is in-
vested by the Pope, and the Polenta family

begin their reign, which lasts until 1441 —
71

72 France sea di Rimini

in all more than a century and a half of
power.

Both at Ravenna and Rimini, which are
places where the water-marks of successive
invasions, and the history of the first cen-
turies of the Christian era, are written in in-
delible characters, we find traces of the visits
of every sovereign, from Augustus to the last
of the papal legates, in buildings or inscrip-
tions. The five bas-reliefs of the Apotheosis
of Augustus, with Caesar and Livia in San
Vitale, the Port of Classis, the mires of
Caesarea are all eloquent of the Roman period,
and its four centuries of prosperity. The
Arch of Augustus at Rimini, and the pedestal
of Julius Caesar, are full of associations with
the emperors, and, from the military harbour
of Classis, where Strabo tells us two hundred
and fifty ships of war rode at anchor, the
Roman fleet could, at a word from the master,
set sail for Epirus, Macedonia, Achaia, the
Propontis, Crete, and their colonies in the
East.

The Site of the Tragedy 73

Upon the partition of the world by the
Romans, the West fell to the lot of Honorius,
and Ravenna was chosen as a refuge against
the Barbarians, on account of its strong posi-
tion on the marshes, which defended its ap-
proach. We find traces of its phase as the
residence of the Roman emperors, and as the
capital of Italy when the Peninsula fell into the
hands of the Barbarians, in the tomb of Galla
Placidia, sister of Honorius and daughter of
the Emperor Theodosius, who became the
wife of a Barbarian king, and in the tombs
of Honorius, of Constantius, and of Valen-
tinian HI., which are still standing, and in
good preservation. When the Barbarians got
the upper hand, Ravenna became the chief
place of residence of Theodoric, king of the
Ostrogoths. His tomb, surmounted by an
enormous monolith, which suggests Egypt and
the monuments of the Pharaohs, is still to be
seen, and in the Piazza Maggiore was his
Portico with his anagram curiously carved
upon it; and the outposts, as it were, of his

74 Francesca di Rimim

palace, can be traced a few steps from the
Basilica of Sant' Apollinare Nuovo. On the
entry of Belisarius into Ravenna, the Bar-
barians were worsted, and the Byzantine period
succeeds the Gothic. The wonderful Basilicas
are a testimony to the two centuries of Byzan-
tine rule. Here the epitaphs of the Exarchs
may be read on their tombs, and on the walls
of San Vitale, which shine with brilliant
mosaics, representing great personages of the
Byzantine Court — the Emperor Justinian
followed by the Archbishop Maximilian, and
opposite to him Theodora, surrounded by her
court ladies in brilliant costumes, the actress,
and Empress of the East, drawn from the
scum of the circus, a fit Empress of the
Lower Empire, as she appeared to the artists
in mosaic of the sixth century, a brilliant,
painted, tricked-out wanton.

The Lombards and Charlemagne left no
monuments, but marks of their passage in the
destruction and ruin they left behind them ;
and if we remember the spoils which Charle-

The Site of the Tragedy 75

magne carried off from Ravenna, to enrich Aix-
la-Chapelle, this period will not seem without
its distinguishing note.

The period between the Lombards and the
rule of the Polenta is one of darkness and dis-
order, during which Otho the Great, the Holy
Roman Emperor, was crowned at Pavia, with
the famous iron crown which is still preserved
among the treasures of Monza ; and the struggle
in which the imperial power was exchanged for
the feudal, lasted for two centuries and a half.

It is a period of storm and stress, in which
the arts of peace had no breathing-space ; but
we may find in the church of Sant' ApoUinare
in Classe, a monument of the date, erected in
commemoration of the repentance of Otho
III., the young emperor whose short life was
stained by so many crimes — he was only
twenty years of age — who came here barefoot,
humbled and penitent, after having put John
XVI. to the torture and treacherously exe-
cuted Crescentius, whom he had besieged in
the Mole of Hadrian.

76 France sea di Rimini

Although, when the feudal power rose upon
the ashes of the Western Empire, the Imperial
vicars became the virtual masters of Ravenna,
not a stone, contemporary with their earliest
period, survives to bear witness to their rule.
We can see the corroded box, now in the
museum at Ravenna, which for many centuries
held the bones of Dante ; we can kneel before
the tomb of Braccioforte, and admire the light
and graceful facades and the magnificent clois-
ters of the palaces built by the Proveditore of
Venice; and read the inscription near San
Vitale, that tells of the murder of Cardinal
Alidosio by the Duke of Urbino, in the pre-
sence of the Pope, his uncle ; we may make
a pilgrimage to the Colonna dei Frances!, that
marks the spot where Gaston de Foix, the hero
only twenty years old, fell, in the hour of his
triumph, laurel-crowned; even papal legates,
Lord Byron, the Gambas, the Countess Guic-
cioli, names which recur so often in the anec-
dotal history of more recent times, have left
their memories, but not a single ray of light is

The Site of the Tragedy jj
thrown by the monuments contemporaneous
with the Polentas upon the subject of our
inquiry. It is a singular thing that there
should be such a blank in the record, and that
the Polentas, who are, historically, such vivid
personalities, should be the only people who
have not left their stamp upon the city where
they ruled for more than a hundred and fifty
years.

We have been more successful in fixing the
actual date of the murder. The evidence rests
upon a single stone, which is a proof of the
occasional importance of such seemingly unim-
portant " documents " in an historical inquiry.
In 1856 there was discovered in the fortress of
Pesaro a fragment of the older portion of the
building, bearing the following inscription :
Anno Domini : Millesimo C C° : lxxxv : In-
dictione XIII : Temporibus : Domini Honorii
Papce IIII : Esistente : Potestafe Johanne :
Nato : Magnifici viri : Domini Malatesice.

Now, in 1285 Honorius IV. was Pope;
the dates are in harmony, and the inscription

yS France sea di Rimini

proves conclusively that in 1285 Giovanni il
Sciancato was podesta at Pesaro. There is no
doubt that it was from Pesaro that he hastened
to surprise Paolo and Francesca. It is possible,
of course, that he had been podesta for some
time, and that he had filled the office several
times over, but this record is against Mon-
signor Marino Marini's theory ; for if Giovanni
was podesta at Pesaro at the time of the
murder, it would have been impossible for his
wife to have been with him, just as it is im-
possible for an admiral or a captain of a ship
to have his wife on board during his naval
expeditions. The law is quite clear on this
point, and even if there were no law, the
custom was invariable in Italy.

Brunetto Latini, Dante's schoolmaster, de-
fines the necessary qualifications of a podesta,
in his Tesoro. The podesta had to be a
stranger, not a citizen of the town in which
he was to hold office; and a man of noble
family and a distinguished and successful
soldier was usually chosen. He had to be at

The Site of the Tragedy 79

least thirty years of age, and to belong to the
party in power in the district. He was not
allowed to bring his wife with him, and, at the
same time, he was obliged to keep up a little
court, with his notaries, lawyers, registrars, and
his military following of knights, squires, and
pages. Unless the town had in its service
some famous condottiere, the podestk took
over the command of the army, and became
the political and miUtary head of the State.
The name survives in most of the towns
of Northern Italy, and in all the Venetian
colonies on the Adriatic, but the office to-day
is by no means important, and corresponds to
that of a syndic or mayor (Podesta-syndaco).
Some of these early podestas were chosen for
life, and the palaces where they resided, in
the thirteenth century, remain as memorials of
the political conditions of the time. Rugged,
strengthened with iron, massive blocks of
masonry, they still look impregnable in many
cases, and able to endure the longest sieges ;
and most of them have done so. The Bar-

8o France sea di Rimini

gello at Florence is a curious example of this
kind of architecture, which was closely in
sympathy with the needs and manners of the
day ; and most of the towns on the coast of
the Adriatic have interesting ruins of such
buildings, too often disfigured by a mistaken
policy of restoration.

We may assume that it was in 1285, when
Giovanni was podesta at Pesaro, that he hur-
ried back to Rimini to surprise Francesca
and Paolo. This is in agreement with Boc-
caccio's statement, but not with Monsignor
Marino Marini's theory. In the thirteenth
century a disagreement between the bishops
of Sant' Arcangelo and the republic of Rimini
resulted in a war between the two towns ; and
he believes that the Malatestas attacked Poggio
di Sant' Arcangelo, and that Giovanni and
Paolo Malatesta held the fortress in 1288 and
1289. If, he thinks, they had continued to
occupy it for so long a period, Giovanni would
have had his wife with him, and the discovery
and the murder would have taken place at

The Site of the Tragedy 8 i

Sant' Arcangelo. Although Monsignor Marino
Marini's work must always claim our respect,
and Clementini is on his side, it is impossible
to agree with his conclusions. The date of
the murder is placed so late as 1288 or 1289,
when Giovanni is no longer podesta ; and what
is more, it is certain that during those years he
was fighting round Sant' Arcangelo. Monsignor
Marino Marini passes over the single fact
that is firmly established — viz. that Giovanni
was podest^ at Pesaro in 1285. We do not
agree with those who think the murder took
place at Pesaro. That theory passes over
the custom, or the law, which prevented
podestas from living with their families in
the towns they ruled, and it also passes over
Boccaccio's torud a Rimini — a statement which
is supported by many of the documents which
have been quoted, and which seems to be a
true one.

There is another argument, which, though
independent of documentary proof, is probably
more conclusive. It is that though Francesca

82 France sea di Rimini

was born at Ravenna, she is universally known
as Francesca of Rimini, for it was at Rimini
that she lived, and paid the penalty of her
weakness, or her sin, and at Rimini that she
was buried.

Then, too, if we sum up the accounts of
the chroniclers and historians, we see that
the majority tacitly suppose that the scene
is laid at Rimini ; they do not even think of
suggesting any other theory. This negative
kind of proof can be drawn from the accounts
of Marco Battaglia, Benvenuto da Imola, Fra
Giovanni da Serravalle, and Baldo di Branchi;
while Giacopo della Lena, Gradenigo, and
Boccaccio mention it as the place. Later
again, when Silvio Pellico wrote his Francesca
di Rimini he had no hesitation in placing the
scene of his tragedy in the city of the Mala-
testas, and the same might be said of Count
Odoardo Fabri and Lord Byron, if he had
carried out his unfinished sketch which we
read of in his letters to Murray. Francesca
w^as Francesca da Ravenna; she is, and always

The Site of the Tragedy 83

will be, Francesca di Rimini, a living portion
of Rimini's history or legend, and eternally
associated with its memories, whatever new
documents may be discovered in record-offices
and hbraries.

Another theory, which has the authority of
the Croiiica Pesarese, states : Aliqui dictmt fuisse
Arimini in donio magna quo est in capite Platece
magnce. We do not believe, however, that the
large house at the entrance of the Piazza
Maggiore belongs to this period. The build-
ing, which is called the " house of Julius
Caesar " from the pedestal, a little pillar set
up by Sigismondo Malatesta to commemorate
Caesar's crossing the Rubicon, bears an in-
scription claiming that Caesar stood on it
to harangue his troops, and was restored in
1560. The house passed, through the Tingoli
and the Ruffo families, into the possession of
Count Carlo Graziani Cisterni, and must have
been built on the site of the earlier house the
chronicler mentions.

It is a curious thing that the middle class,

84 France sea di 'Rimini

which is indifferent to the methods of exact
inquiry, is in favour of this theory. There
is also a tradition that the sons of Malatesta
da Verucchio Hved, during their father's Hfe-
time, in a house near the old Porta di Sant'
Andrea. This house, however, which belonged
in the eighteenth century to the Graziani
family, is much too modern. All this shows
how difficult it is to come to a definite con-
clusion, but I am inclined to agree, with
Tonini, that the Gattolo di San Colomba
at Rimini, which stood on the site of the
fortress known to-day as the Avanzi della
Rocca, was probably the scene of the tragedy.
In its present state it is impossible, owing to
the alterations that have been made, to dis-
cover the remains of the earlier building.^

In conclusion, here is a curious extract
from a book printed at Rimini in 1 581, by

^ The Castel Malatesta, or fortress, is now muti-
lated or disfigured by unsightly barracks. The rose
and elephant are still traceable on its walls, with the
date 1445.

The Site oj the Tragedy 85

Simbeni, entitled // Vermicello della Seta.
The author is Giovanni Andrea Consucci da
Sascorbaro, and it is quoted by Tonini : —

'' A few days ago, in the church of Sant'
Agostino, there were found in a marble tomb
Paolo Malatesta and Francesca, daughter of
Guido da Polenta, lord of Ravenna, who
were put to death by Lancelotto, the son of
Malatesta, lord of Rimini and brother of the
said Paolo. These two were discovered in
adultery, and slain by a blow with a dagger,
as Petrarch says in the ' Triumph of Love.'
Their clothes were of silk, and though enclosed
for so many years in the tomb, they were found
in a perfect state of preservation."

It is impossible to say what Sascorbaro's
story is based on. Certainly Boccaccio and
most of the chroniclers say that the bodies of
the two lovers were buried in the same grave,
and Sascorbaro's story — which we give for what
it is worth — is in agreement with their accounts.
However this may be, Rimini believes firmly
in its legend, and in the Gambalunga Palace,

86 France sea di Rimini

on the walls of the town library may be seen,
in a frame, a piece of silk woven with gold,
which is believed by the ordinary visitor to be
a genuine relic of the garments of Francesca
and Paolo.

CHAPTER V

RESUME OF THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE

Sigisinondo Pandolfo Malatesta — Dante is the reputed
historian of the tragedy — His legend compared with
authentic history.

From this mass of doubtful and conflicting

evidence a few facts stand out clearly and

prominently, and give some air of relief to

so far-off an historical event. At first there

was a school which saw in Francesca a sacrifice

to paternal ambition, and poets and painters,

sculptors and musicians, represented her as a

creature full of youth, grace, and beauty, who,

after the cruel deception which substituted

Giovanni il Sciancato for Paolo il Bello, fell

an easy victim to the man who had gone

through the ceremony of marriage with her.

Later on, a reaction set in, on the dis-
87

88 France sea di Rimini

covery of some new materials, and this was
strengthened by the opinions of the first
people who took the trouble to work on the
subject. A cynical poet went so far as to
suggest that, at the time of her death,
Francesca

^^ N^ avail plus loiil-a-fail la fraicheur da matin" ;

and another school arose who saw in her a
married woman, who was no longer young,
yet in love with a mere boy — a not uncommon
occurrence.

The truth really lies between the two.

Francesca was beautiful, and both proud
and "of lofty spirit," for Dante, who is so
sparing of details, gives proof of the energy
of her character. It is she who answers
him, while Paolo can only weep, and she who
brands her husband with the name of Cain.
Francesca must have been about eighteen
years old when she married in 1275, and at
her death she was about twenty-eight. There
is no reason to doubt that she was married

Resume of Historical Evidence 89

to Giovanni by proxy, and that from the very
first she loved Paolo with a love that, in
the end, cost them both their lives ten years
later. We may assume that her intimacy
with Paolo was of long standing, and upon
her death she left behind her a daughter,
Concordia, whom Giovanni had named after
his mother.

Giovanni was more than thirty when he
married her — since he had already held office
as podesta ; his physical peculiarities have
been described, and his character lives in the
pages of the chroniclers of the fourteenth cen-
tury. In spite of being " rude in appearance
and limping," he was a soldier who had won a
reputation in the country round, and a shrewd
politician. When he suspects his wife, he
watches her, and strikes her down : the next
day he marries Zambrasina.

A later and a true-blooded Malatesta, faith-
ful to the family type, is Sigismondo, the son
of Pandolfo, who was the great-grand-nephew
of Giovanni, and the most famous represen-

go France sea di Rimini

tative of his race. He poisoned two of his
wives, and remained the devoted lover, till his
death, of his mistress, Isotta of Rimini (after-
wards his third wife), who was celebrated by
the poets of the fifteenth century.

Paolo is Paolo il Bello; and even in the
legal documents and papal briefs of the day,
he is so entitled. There is, however, a stain
upon the history of his love, for six years
before he saw Francesca he had married
Orabile Beatrice, and by her in the first year
of their marriage he had a son, Uberto di
Paolo; and not long afterwards a daughter,
Margherita.

Paolo has the reputation of a beautiful but
insipid person, whose "only art was love." It
was said of him that " he loved the amuse-
ments of peace better than the toils of war,"
and Benvenuto da Imola, one of the earliest
commentators on Dante, has given him a bad
character. Francesca, by a strange incon-
sistency that has been observed before in
history, must have been won by his horseman-

Resume of Historical Evidence 9 1

ship, his white skin, and his curly hair; it is
evident that he was attractive to women. But,
in common justice, we must admit that if he
was not a soldier like il Sciancafo, Scepione
Ammirato, an historian in the pay of the early
Medici, has proved that Paolo took some
share in political life, and that in 1283 he
was capitano del popolo at Florence. It is true
that, on the ist of February of the same year,
he states that he has serious business which
calls him to Rimini, and asks for leave, which
is given him {licenza di andarsene a casa).
Some who wish to " point the moral " have
chosen to conclude that it was not his wife
Orabile he was anxious to rejoin, but his
brother's wife, who was far more dear to him.
It has been supposed that he is to be met with
again in history, skirmishing round the Poggio
di Sant' Arcangelo, but in first-hand documents
there is no sign of him from the (conjectured)
date of the murder, while his brother can be
traced as late as 1304.

When he made his first and fateful appear-

92 France sea di Rimini

ance, Paolo is twenty-three — he was born in
1252; — he is surrounded by an atmosphere
of love until his death, at the age of thirty-
four.

Anything beyond these few facts is con-
jectural; and it is impossible to reconstruct,
in all its details, a minor episode which hap-
pened so long ago as 1285. But there seems
to be no doubt, from the evidence of the
chroniclers, that these few facts are established
on a firm footing.

In conclusion, we shall not insist upon their
guilt, for human nature is generous in its judg-
ments on such historic frailties, and it is per-
haps absurd to take what is largely legend or
tradition too seriously. However, we prefer
Boccaccio's account, even as a subject for an
opera, to the fiction about which Ambroise
Thomas wrote his Fran^oise di Rimini. In
the historical account there were all the neces-
sary elements, war and love, dramatic possi-
bilities and background, everything that goes

Resume of Historical Evidence 9 3

to make a successful and varied play. But
poets, so long as they are men of genius, have
their licence, and it is idle to criticise their
methods pedantically.

But when all is said it is useless to file our
evidence, and search all possible sources of
information to discover whether the real Fran-
cesca, the Francesca of history, was " more
sinned against than sinning," for Dante has
superseded history. We ought not to pin his
airy creations down to earth, nor be disap-
pointed at not finding the actual tomb of
Juliet or Romeo's balcony. In spite of the
claims of history and historic truth, art remains
supreme, and it is useless to call back these
ghosts from beyond the grave, " in their habit as
they lived," for the poets have already snatched
them from the earth, and given them to us in
another guise. If certain facts, which it seems
impossible to doubt, have given offence to
some, they may console themselves by think-
ing that it is the poet's privilege to infuse a
breath of life into his fictions, and it is this

94 France sea di 'Rimini

new creation that lives on to all eternity,
while every detail that we would add only
detracts from the vividness, the reality, the
wonderful life-in-death of the " two sad spirits
indivisible."

THE END

Printed by Ballaktyne, Hanson <5r» Co.
Edinburgh &* London

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